More than 1,000 attend candlelight vigil for slain Poughkeepsie Officer John Falcone

Feb. 20, 2011

City of Poughkeepsie police Officer John Falcone checks information on a parked car via his in-car laptop computer in 2003. He died Friday after being shot while pursuing a suspect near the Poughkeepsie Train Station. / File photo by Darryl Bautista/Poughkeepsie Journal

Written by

Larry Hertz

Poughkeepsie Journal

City of Poughkeepsie Police Officer John Falcone, who was shot and killed Friday, was honored with a candlelight vigil tonight attended by more than 1,000 people, which began at the Italian Center behind City Hall. The city Police Benevolent Association event then headed to the Poughkeepsie Train Station where Falcone was killed.

His funeral is set for 10 a.m. Thursday at Saint James the Apostle Church on Gleneida Avenue in Carmel.

Visitation for Falcone will be held from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Tuesday as well as from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Wednesday at the Cargain Funeral Home in Carmel.

At a press conference this morning at City Hall, Mayor John Tkazyik thanked the community for its "overwhelming support during this tragic time" and invited residents to attend this evening's vigil.

Also this morning, police Chief Ronald Knapp said the gunman who killed Falcone, 27-year-old Lee M. Welch, of Catskill, Greene County, suffered an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound to his left chest before his encounter with Falcone.

Minutes earlier, Welch had shot his wife, Jessica Welch, 28, when they met in Poughkeepsie after being separated three weeks earlier following a series of domestic disputes in Catskill, Knapp said.

Knapp said an autopsy revealed Lee Welch died from a second self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, which the chief said was ruled a "suicide shot."

Knapp said the Dutchess County Medical Examiner found Falcone died from a single gunshot would to the head. Jessica Welch was shot once in the right side and died from a second shot to her head.

Falcone was shot about 1:10 p.m. Friday as he and other officers pursued Lee Welch on foot near the Poughkeepsie Train Station, minutes after Welch shot his wife, who had come to Poughkeepsie with their 3-year-old daughter.

The child was rescued unharmed during the incident and is staying with relatives, Knapp said.

Knapp said Jessica Welch had moved to her father's home in Mount Vernon after her husband was charged with violating a court order barring him from seeing her. That order stemmed from a Jan. 28 incident at the couple's home when Welch was accused of assaulting his wife, Knapp said.

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Meeting in the city

The chief said police think the couple came to Poughkeepsie on Friday afternoon so Lee Welch, who was still living in Catskill, could give his wife the family car. Knapp said the couple had two other young children.

"It was a midway point between Mount Vernon and Catskill, and we assume (Jessica Welch) took the train to Poughkeepsie," Knapp said.

The woman was shot during an argument with her estranged husband in the car, parked in a lot just south of Main Street near the train station, prompting police to respond.

Falcone and other officers confronted Welch as he stood in the parking lot with his 3-year-old daughter and ordered him to drop his gun.

Knapp said police had determined none of the officers had fired a gun during the incident, leading them to conclude Welch had shot himself — either intentionally or unintentionally — as well as Falcone.

In an exclusive interview with the Poughkeepsie Journal after the news conference, Knapp said Sgt. John Zeltmann, a trained paramedic, administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation on Falcone in the back seat of a patrol car as another officer drove them to Vassar Brothers Medical Center.

Knapp said he heard the report of the incident on the police scanner in his office as he was conducting a meeting with his two captains.

He said he immediately drove to the scene, then went to the hospital to check on Falcone.

He said he immediately drove to the scene, then went to the hospital to check on Falcone.

One of the first officers he saw when he arrived at the emergency room was Zeltmann.

"He still had (Falcone's) blood on him," the chief said.

Knapp said he and everyone in the Police Department was coping with the loss of "a member of the family." But he said he was proud of the way his officers were continuing to do their jobs.

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"I want to reassure the people of the city the men and women of this department are continuing to maintain a normal level of staffing, and they are responding to calls as usual," he said.

Knapp said state police, the Dutchess County Sheriff's Office and Town of Poughkeepsie police had offered to help city officers patrol the city, "but so far, that has not been needed."

Grand jury planned

The chief said autopsies were performed Saturday on Falcone and Lee and Jessica Welch, and police were continuing to interview witnesses and gather evidence at the scene of the shootings.

District Attorney William Grady said a grand jury would be convened to investigate the incident. He said the panel may or may not choose to write a report on its findings, but he added it would not begin work until the city police investigation is completed.

Tkazyik opened Saturday's news conference by describing the incident as "the city's worst nightmare."

The mayor said he had met with Falcone's parents and had expressed his condolences on behalf of all city residents.

"This community has lost a great man and a great officer," Tkazyik said.